robbins



H. P. HOBBtNS. RECEIVING APPARATUS FUR SUGAR sms.

APPLICATDH FILED OCT. 5.1916.

Patented June 24, 1919.

H. P. ROBBINS.

RECEIVING APPARATUS FOR SUGAR BEETS. APPucmon man ocr. 5. me.

1,307,458. Patented June 24, 1919, l s sains-sain z.

H. P. ROBBINS.

RECEIVING APPARATUS Fon SUGAR BEUS.

APPLICATION FIIEIi ocT. 5. 191s.

Patented June 24, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HUGH P. BOBBINS, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 WELLER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 0F ILLINOIS.

RECEIVING APPARATUS FOR SUGAR-BEETS.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 24, 1919.

Application led October 5, 1916. Serial No. 123,822.

-dent of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Receiving Apn paratus for Sugarfeets, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to receiving apparatus for sugar beets.

It is now common practice for the beetraiser to deliver the beets in wagons to the sugar factories or to places for shipment to storeshouses or factories. In the present practice, the beets are dumped on a conveyer which delivers them to a place of storage or into a car for transportation. To determine the amount to be paid for the load, the wagon is usually weighed before and afterl unloading. and the farmer is paid from the diiference'in Weight. It has been found that these beets, as usually delivered, particularly when raised in sticky soil, have considerable dirt adhering thereto which is .delivered into the conveyer With the beets and for which the farmer is paid at the rate paid for the beets. In othei1 Words, the weight paid for includes payment for the aggregate Weight of the dirt and the beets at the rate contemplated for beets only.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved method of receiving and handling these beets by which payment for the dirt at the beet-rate Will be avoided. Another object is to provide improved apparatus for receiving and handling beets whereby the dirt and adhering tops will be cleaned or removed from the beets so the net weight of the beets can be ascertained as the basis of the Weight to be paid for and so that the factory will not pay for the dirt.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved apparatus for handling beets so that when they are stored they will be substantially clean to avoid decomposition.

The invention consists in the several novel features hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings: Fi re 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus or practisin the invention. -Fig. 2 is a longitudine section through the receiving hopper and a portion ofthe combined coaveyer and elevator. Fig.

3 is a vertical section through the same. Fig. l is a vertical section through the cleaningl apl'iaratus and the chutes for receivingr the dirt and beets respectively. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. G is an end elevation of the separating drum and support.

The improved method of receiving and handling sugar beets involves receiving the materia in bulk from the farmcrs w a gon and elevating and Conveying it, then cleaning' the beets to separate the dirt and loose tops therefrom, and retaining' the dirt temporarily so its weight can be ascertained and deducted from the ,cross weight of the load received from the farmer.

A receiving hopper 7 is disposed at the side of an elevated platform e? onto which the farmers wagons containing; the beets are hauled. From the wagon, the ventire load is dumped laterally into the hopper 7. A slide 9 forms the bottom of the hopper so that a load from one Wagon can be retained in the hopper until the previous load has passed through the apparatus. Slide 9 is provided with flanged rollers 10 traveling on angleiron tracks 11 sustained by suitable framework comprisingr standards 12 and has secured to its underside racks 14 which mesh with pinions 15 on a shaft 1G which is mounted on said frame. Shaft 1G may be operated to rotate pinions 15 to shift the bottom-slide 9 by a hand-Wheel 17 on a shaft 18 which is connected to shaft 16 by a chain 19 trained around sprockets 2O and 21 on shafts 16, 18 respect1vely. One function of the slide 9 is to retain a load until a previously delivered load has passed through the apparatus or is sulliciently advanced so the material of one load Will not commingle with that of another.

From the hopper' 7, the beets are discharged under control of slide 9 onto an endless conveyer and elevator. This elevator consists of an endless-series of plates 22 which are linked together. Each plate Q2 forms a bottom-section of the conveyor-elevator, has sides 22 and is connected to a rod 23. The contiguous ends of the plates are lapped to form a closed bottom and between its ends each plate is depressed, as at 23", to form a plocket and provided with an angle iron Big t 24, so that the material will all be retained on the conveyer and, elevated thereby. Each shaft 23 is rovided at its cada .with flanged relieve 5 adapted to travel on upper angle-iron tracks 2G and lower angle iron tracks 27 which are suitably secured together by bars 28 and 29 of the elevator frame-Work. The lower end of the conveyor extends under the receivinghopper 7 and rods 23 thereof pass around idler-sprockets 30 on a shaft 3l which is mounted in bearings 32 which are adjustable in guide-bars so that the slack may be taken up in the endless conveyor-elevator by screws 34.

From the receiving hopper 7 the conveyor is inclined upwardly to elevate the material into position to discharge it into an elevated cleaning and separating apparatus. The upper cud of the conveyer passes around sprockets on a shaft 35' which is provided with a pulley 3G which is driven by a belt 37 from a pulley 38 on a counter shaft 39 which is driven by a belt 4U from a suitable motor 41. The upper end of the conveyer is sustained by a frame-work coinprising standards which are secured to gether by cross-bars 4B and 44. The material elevated b v the belt is discharged as it passes around shaft 35 into a chute 45 which is mounted to deliver the material into a cleaning and separating drum 4G. This drum is sustained in elevated position adjacent the upper end of the conveyer on a fraaie comprising bars 47, 47 and comprises end-rings 48 and longitudinal bars or pipes 49 between and secured to the rings. The axis of the cleaner drum is inclined so that the beets will move longitudinally of the drum bygravity. The drum supporting frame is pivotally sustained at 47a and screws 47b so that the inclination of the drum may be varied to cause the beets to remain in transit through the drum a sufficient period to cause them to be thoroughly cleaned. Each ring 48 runs on and is supported by double-flanged rollers 50 on shaft 51, which are mounted in bearings 52 on cross-bars 47. Pulley 50 holds the rings and drum against endwise movement. Drum 46 is rotated by power derived from the motor driven shaft 39 and for this purpose a. beveled gear 54 on one of the rings 4S meshes with a pinion 55 which is fixed to a shaft 56 which is mounted in a bracket 53 on the drum-supporting frame. Pulley 57 on shaft 39 drives a belt 58 which drives a pulley 59 on shaft 56.

The longitudinal rods 49 are spaced apart and as a result, during the rotation of the drum, the beets will roll thereon and the dirt and tops will be separated therefrom and will fall between the bars. A hopper 60 is sustained below the drum to catch all of the material separated from the beets. The clean beets pass endwise through the ring 48 at the lower end of the drum and a chute G1 conducts them into a hopper 62. A chute 63 connected to the lower end of hopper 60 is provided with an upper slide-valve G4 which is operable by a lever 65 and a lower valve 6G. By providing a lurality of these valves, the dirt -separated rom one load of beets may be held in the chute 60 and kept separate from the dirt accumulating from another load until the wagon is ready to receive the dirt from the load it discharged. With the upper valve closed and the lower valve open, the dirt in chute G3 can be discharged while the hopper' G0 is retaining the dirt separated from a subsequently delivered load. A chute G8 is connected to the lower end of the hopper G2 to conduct the cleaned beets to a car or other vehicle for transporting the beets to a place of storage.

In the practice of the invention, a load of beets will be dumped into the receivingr hopper 7 from the farmers wagon. With the emiveyer-elevalor and cleaner drum in operation.y the material in the hopper will be fed into the conveyer under the control of a valve 9. The beets and all the material delivered into the hopper from the wagon will be elevated and discharged into chute 45 which will direct the same into the cleaning drum 4G. In transit through the chute, the beets will roll on the longitudinal bars and contact with one another so that the dirt adhering thereto will be separated therefrom and will fall between the bars 49 into the hopper GO. Any loose dirt dumped into the receiver chute with the beets will also be elevated and delivered into the cleaner drum through which it will fall into the hopper G0. The cleaned beets will pass out of the lower end of the hopper and will be directed by chute 6l into the hopper (52. While a load of beets from a wagon is in transit through the elevator and cleaner, valve 66 in chute G3 will be kept closed so that the dirt from that particular load will accumula-te in said chute. The farmers wagon can be driven to a point under the chute 63 and the dirt separated from the load delivered by that wagon will be discharged back into it, or, if desired, this dirt may be weighed and its Weight deducted from the weight allowed to the farmer. As soon as the last of a load of beets has been discharged from the receiving hopper 7, valve 9 may be closed so that another load may be dumped in the hopper in readiness to pass onto the conveyer as soon as the previously deposited load has passed through the apparatus. If it is desired to retain the dirt from a given load, during the accumulation of dirt from a subsequent load, valve G4 will be closed so that the dirt will remain in hopper 60 until the wagon is ready to receive that charge or the operator is ready to Weigh it.

The invention exemplifies a method for handling beets which consists in conveying and elevating a load received from a Wagon to a cleaner and separately discharging the beets and the dirt so that the Weight of the beets and the Weight of the dirt can be separately ascertained so that the actual Weight of the cleaned beets will form the basis of payment to the farmer. The invention further exemplifies a method in which the loads may he successfully handled Without commingling dirt from different loads.

The invention also exemplifies apparatus for handling loads of beets and in which provision is made for cleaning and separating the dirt from the beets and separately discharging the dirt from the beets.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details set forth, since these may be modified Within the scope of the ap pended claims, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. The method of handling beets for storage which consists in dumping a load of beets masse, conveying and gradually cleaning the material of the load and automatically separating the dirt and residual tops from the beets, retaining the tops and dirt separately from the beets during a continuous operation, Weighing one of the separated products, and separatelyY disposing of the cleaned beets.

2. The method of handling beets for storage which consists in dumping a load of beets en masse, gradually elevating the material of the load, gradually separating and separately discharging the dirt and residual tops from the beets in the load of elevated material, retaining and weighing the dirt and tops of the load, and separately disposing of the cleaned beets.

3. In apparatus for handling beets for storage, the combination of a receptacle adapted to receive a load of beets, a cleaner adapted to separate the residual tops and dirt from the beets, means for gradually delivering material in a load to the cleaner, means to receive and convey and retain for Weighing one of the separated products, and separate means to receive and convey the other of said products.

4. In apparatus for handling beets for storage, the con'ibination of a receptacle adapted to receive a load of beets, an elevated cleaner adapted to separate the re sidual tops and dirt from the beets, an eudless bucket conveyor for graduali elevating and conveying the material of a load to the cleaner, means to receive and convey for weighing the refuse separately from the beets, and means to receive and convey' the beets from the cleaner.

5. In apparatus for handling beets for storage, the combination of a receptacle adapted to receive a Wagon-load of beets, an elevated rotary cleaner' by which the dirt and residual tops will be separated from the beets. an endless bucket conveyer for gradually delivering the material of a load from the receptacle to the cleaner, means to regulate the delivery of the material from the receptacle to the conveyer, means to separately receive and convey and retain for Weighing the refuse and the beets of a cleaned load, and means to receive and separately convey the beets from the cleaner.

In apparatus for handling beets for storage, the combination of means to receive a Wagonload of beets, a cleaner adapted to separate the residual tops and dirt from the material in a load, means for gradually delivering the `material from the receiving means to the cleaner, means to separately receive and convey and retain for weighing the refuse from successive loads, and means to receive and convey the beets from the cleaner.

HUGH P. ROBBINS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

